Babies should sleep in parents’ bedroom for as long as a year, says US guidance

Babies should sleep in their parents’ bedroom for six months and ideally as long as a year to decrease the risk of sleep related death, new guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says.

In its first updated recommendations since 2011 on preventing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep related infant deaths,1 the AAP said that sharing a room with parents for at least six months, but ideally a year, cuts the risk of SIDS by as much as 50%.